Innerview: John Paulus

Lucas Entertainment recently announced the signing of John Paulus as a new exclusive. Like most Lucas models, Paulus has a hot body and a big dick, but he also comes with some additional star luster. The 38-year-old North Carolina resident has had his name and picture splashed all over the tabloids this year as the alleged lover of American Idol singer Clay Aiken.

On a recent afternoon, Paulus fought back tears as he sipped tea in Michael Lucas’ Manhattan apartment and shared his story with GAYVN.

Like many other modern-day romances, it all began on the Internet when Paulus placed ads on BigMuscle.com and Manhunt.net and received a response from someone who claimed to have a recognizable face. Paulus — who is originally from Connecticut and spent more than ten years in the military as a Ranger and Green Beret — began an online relationship with the man who said he was looking for a discreet boyfriend.

It wasn’t until they traded pictures that Paulus realized his online buddy was Aiken. Understandably, he was doubtful, so Aiken agreed to call him from his dressing room. “As soon as I heard his laugh,” Paulus recalls, “I knew it was Clay.”

Paulus admits to being a fan of American Idol. “Sure, I knew who Clay Aiken was,” he says. “I thought he was an excellent singer, and I was rooting for him to win.” But Paulus got more than an average fan would. Aiken convinced him to meet in person, but because of his famous face, he asked that it be in private at a hotel. “Clay offered to pay,” Paulus says, “but I refused. I didn’t need his money. I even got us a suite, because I figured there would be a couch so we could sit and talk.”

But according to Paulus, when Aiken arrived, talking was not what he had in mind. “We spoke for about five minutes,” he says, “when Clay started getting very touchy, and he grabbed my hand and placed it on his crotch. He was hard. I kept trying to pull my hand away, but he kept insisting that I feel it. He was very aggressive, and before I knew it he was undressing me and demanding that I suck his dick.”

Caught up in the moment, Paulus obliged. Aiken started fingering him, Paulus says, “but when he got to two fingers, I told him that he'd better use some lube!”

Paulus was dubious by this point, especially when Aiken said he wanted to top the muscular stud. “I told him I had no condoms, but he didn’t care. I told him I would run out and get some, but he wouldn’t allow me to leave.”

Paulus says that little by little Aiken maneuvered him into position and started having unprotected sex with him. “I guess I did it because of who he was,” Paulus says, “but by this time my whole image of him had changed. I felt special at first that he wanted to be with me, but I ended up feeling like I was just an object to him. I was his fuck toy.”

When they were done, Aiken told Paulus to take care of the towel he had used to clean up the evidence of their tryst. “I didn’t know what to do with it!” Paulus says incredulously. “It’s like I was his servant or something! So I just grabbed it and wrapped it in a plastic bag and threw it in the trunk of my car. I remember thinking, Whores get better treatment than this!”

It wasn’t until he got home and found that Aiken was back online cruising that Paulus started getting mad. “I tried to IM him and he wouldn’t answer,” Paulus says. “I wanted to ask him about his HIV status. And I felt like he should apologize for how he treated me.” But it wasn’t until a week later that they communicated. Aiken was unapologetic and clearly uninterested in continuing the relationship. It was then that Paulus decided to go public with his story.

Throughout our conversation, he refers to a sheaf of papers with e-mails and IMs between him and Aiken. He often looks at them and points out quotes that led him to believe that Aiken wanted more from him than to bareback and dump him in a hotel room. “I was disappointed with myself that I let it happen,” he says with regret in his voice. “I made excuses for Clay, but after a while I thought, I am not going to stand for this treatment.”

Paulus contacted The National Enquirer and agreed to an interview. He told them about the evidence in his trunk and even took a lie detector test.

He wants it to be known that he was not paid for his story. “Sure, they offered me money,” he says, “but I thought if I took it, then I would have no chance of anyone believing me.”

Around this time, he retained the services of an entertainment lawyer who speculated that Aiken and his record label might offer him a payoff, but Paulus wasn’t interested in fielding any offers. “I just wanted an apology from Clay,” he says, adamantly. “That is all I ever wanted. Just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t give you a license to treat people poorly.”

Again, he tears up. “I was worried about Clay and his fans,” Paulus says. “I didn’t want to hurt him or his career.” But when the story broke online and in The Enquirer, Star and Globe magazines, Aiken would no longer speak to him. And then the calls, hate mail and threats from Aiken’s obsessive fans — who call themselves Claymates — started pouring in.

“I was fearful to leave my house,” he says. “The Claymates found out where I lived. They said I was a gay extremist and anti-Christian, and they threatened my family and even said they would poison my pets and blow up my car!”

Paulus decided it was best to leave town, and he flew to New York to do the Howard Stern radio show. This is when top East Coast porn producer Michael Lucas entered the picture.

“I was contacted by John,” Lucas says. “I wasn’t so sure who Clay Aiken was, but I went online and learned more about the story. That is when I got interested and told John he should come to New York and that we should talk.”

“I had been contacted by COLT and by Falcon,” Paulus says. In his past, he had brief brushes with porn when he worked as a go-go dancer and dated model Kyle Kennedy. “I was always interested in porn,” Paulus says, “but it’s like jumping out of an airplane — you’re afraid to do it, but it’s exciting to think about.”

Paulus was referred to Lucas by a New York publicist. When he first arrived for the Stern interview, he met Lucas, who helped him prep for the show and accompanied him there. It was then that he agreed to sign an exclusive deal with Lucas Entertainment.

Within days, Paulus filmed his first scene with Wilson Vasquez for Auditions 8: Scandalous. “It went well,” Paulus told me after the shoot. “I was very nervous, but once we got into it, it was hot. Plus, I haven’t really had sex since Clay, so as soon as we finished, I was ready to go again!”

Currently, Paulus is at a crossroads. After being kicked out of the military in 1997 due to its "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and worked in management before relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina, last year and becoming a real estate agent. When he went public with the Aiken story, he lost his job.

Paulus was also slated to move into a new apartment, but his landlord backed out when the story broke. He had been working on a book proposal about his experience as a gay Green Beret, but the agent he was dealing with dropped him when he found out that Paulus had done porn. So, he is left with his Lucas contract and a hopeful outlook. “Everything happens for a reason,” he says. “I’m taking one step at a time. I know everything will turn out. I still feel bad for Clay, but I think I’m doing him a favor.”

In our initial interview, Paulus had shown me a copy of his last online conversation with Aiken. In it, Aiken allegedly tells his lover that he will pray for him. Sounds to us like it's Aiken who needs the prayers.